The Testing Initiative
by JenovaII
Summary: A unicorn wakes up in the midst of dilapidated ruins in a long-forgotten testing facility with no memory of who she is or how she got there.  Enlisting the help of some strange...constructs, she must escape - or die trying.
1. Chapter 1

A young violet unicorn stood at the edge of a tall cliff. Behind her loomed the dark wood, even more dangerous and frightening in the middle of the night. Before her was a rickety plank bridge, swaying ominously with the cool wind. On the other side of the bridge lay the ruins of a once-majestic castle, reduced now to mere walls for moss to grow.

The breeze swept through her mane, lifting it off of her neck and waving it like a triumphant banner. She took a step onto the bridge, steadying it with a hoof before breaking out into a run. The planks nearly disintegrated under her back hooves as her weight left them, but she galloped on, a determined smirk crossing her face. As she felt the bridge start to give way, she leaped into the air, landing on all four hooves on the solid stone walk of the castle's entryway. The bridge collapsed, bringing a cloud of dust through the empty walls of the ruin.

Trotting briskly around the moss-covered ground, she was almost disappointed to find the area empty. She strolled into the ante-chamber, or what was left of it. Two tall, black-stoned walls stood like stoic guards, ignoring her presence as she passed them. In the middle of the ante-chamber was a large statuesque piece, like an inverted chandelier. Seven spokes drew out of the center of the ornament, ending in empty, curved bowls.

The light that had roused her from her warm bed and the cozy comforts of her library had come from this very place, and she had a sickening feeling that whatever was here was up to no good. She illuminated her horn, a purple light glowing a small aura around her. It wasn't much light, but it would be enough to search.

She stopped, listened. There was a noise. A strange, quiet grinding, like metal gears. It was muffled as if far beneath her. As far as she knew – as far as she remembered from that panicked night – there was no basement to this castle. What would be making such a noise?

More importantly, who would be making it?

She gulped and pressed on through the ante-chamber, entering the throne room proper. Dim moonlight seeped in from a large hole in the far wall. Moth-eaten remnants of royal carpet led up to a small rise where two thrones had once sat. Thieves, probably, had made off with the royal seating, as the rise was now bare.

The young unicorn approached the rise, stepping lightly onto the center of it. The grinding was louder here, echoing from deep below the ruins, a hollow, miserable sound. The ancient stones, sitting dormant for hundreds of years without knowing the weight of a pony, began to shift under her hooves.

The ground broke.

In her panic, there wasn't time to teleport away.

She fell...

* * *

><p>She awoke, and even before she opened her eyes she saw the light. At first, she thought maybe she had died, headed off to some eternal realm filled with the peaceful light of everlasting serenity. The pain that coursed through her back legs moments later told her she was still alive. Her throat was also on fire; she vaguely remembered screaming as she fell into the seemingly-endless pit. She struggled to clear her throat and found it useless to even attempt speech.<p>

She opened her eyes, looking into a white, sterile light positioned directly above her. She tried to sit up and cried out in surprise as her horn struck something. With some difficulty, she shifted her front hooves up, pressing them against the glass close to her face. She looked from side to side, seeing only the pillowy edges of some sort of bed. She struggled to turn on her right side, succeeding only in shooting spears of pain through her back legs. Something grabbed them, pulled, as if they were ensnared in some wicked and painful vine.

She was not generally the type of pony to panic, knowing her thrashing would help nothing. Besides, the shifting of cloth as she moved told her that her restraints may only be clothes. From what she could see and feel, she was wearing a thick sort of jumpsuit – looking down, she saw it was orange – with some clothing underneath to avoid chafing. She stood still for a few moments, trying to see through the glass, trying to ascertain some hint of her current location. The pod that held her was very small and constricting, and the glass plate before her eyes was warped and blurry.

Drawing back a front hoof as far as she was able, she prepared to kick the pod open. There was a sudden hissing of air, and a sickly-sweet smell invaded her lungs. Giving in to panic, she started to struggle like a fish out of water, twisting her body in all directions. The pain in her back legs became too much to bear, or perhaps it was the gas. All the same, in a matter of moments, she was asleep.

-ERRRRRTZ-

The buzzer was loud enough to make the whole pod shudder. The unicorn's violet eyes shot open, and again she tried to sit up. Again, she was corrected by the glass in front of her. As best she could, she rubbed her smashed muzzle tenderly. Another buzzer sounded, louder than the first, and the lights around the pod dimmed. Sparks shot off from somewhere, making the unicorn flinch.

The pod slid open. At least, most of it did. It allowed enough space for her muzzle to fit through, then shifted sideways off its track, protesting with an array of sparks. She slid her hooves out and pushed, finagling the glass open and leaping out. She backed away from the pod until her flank hit a wall. No, a giant pane of glass. She was in a small room, walled off in glass panels, in the middle of a larger room. A narrow white wall stood at one side of the small room, as if serving as a door.

The larger room was grossly overgrown. Artificial lights from above illuminated a veritable greenhouse, rife with large vines and wide-leafed plants that sprung tenaciously from every corner. Smashed glass and broken walls littered the room, as though the plants themselves had had one massive party and completely wrecked the place in the process. Large chunks of the ceiling had come down, allowing her to look all the way up to the night sky. The crescent moon shone above her, far in the distance.

Before she could begin to wonder where she was, how she got to be there, and, strangely enough, any other memories at all, a third buzzer sounded. The lights dimmed momentarily, and a panel on the wall flipped over to reveal a large, black screen. A video started to play, though it froze and reverted to pixels every few seconds. A stylized black sun sat beside the words "Equestrian Science and Innovations." The sun began to spin, looking almost like a sawblade, as a calm and majestic voice spoke:

"Hello, and, again, welcome to the Equestrian Science Magic-aided Enrichment Center. We hope your brief stay in the relaxation chamber has been a pleasant one."

The logo faded, and a white alicorn with a flowing, multicolored mane appeared. Some twitch in the back of the unicorn's mind told her she should know this pony, but remembering her name felt like repeatedly hitting a brick wall. She scowled, squinting at the pony's image on the screen, as though that would magically make the memories appear.

"Although fun and learning are the primary goals of all enrichment center activities, some injuries may occur. For your own safety and the safety of others, please -"

There was a sharp warping sound that made her jump. The video on the screen was cut short, and for a few seconds the rustling of leaves and dust were the only motions in the room. The screen jumped to life again, this time showing the snarling face of a black alicorn. Her mane was like stardust, and it flickered like angry blue fire around the pony's face. Her eyes, large and aquamarine, stared down at the young unicorn for a moment before rolling back in annoyance.

"Ugh, curse these pre-recorded messages!" She then focused on the unicorn again. "Ah, hello there, Twilight Sparkle. How have you been? Enjoying your stay so far?"

The unicorn's ears went back, and she planted her hooves in a defensive position. Twilight Sparkle? Was that her name? Somehow, she was not too alarmed that her name had been forgotten. If that was her name, it was a good enough name, but she did not like hearing it from the bitter-cold voice of the pony on the monitor.

The black pony tilted her head. "What's the matter? Don't you know who I am?"

Twilight – she was now pretty sure that was her name – shook her head, still frowning. The black pony settled back, looking not only confused but slightly angry.

"Seriously?" Her tone was flat. "All that trouble, and you don't even know my name?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, shaking her head again.

"Do you remember Princess Celestia?"

Again, Twilight shook her head.

"Your friends? Applejack, Pinkie Pie?"

Another head shake, coupled with an annoyed look.

"Elements of Harmony? Magical studies? Anything ring a bell?"

Twilight merely blinked.

"You mean this whole time, I could've easily gassed you and sent you on your stupid, merry way? I don't believe this!" Her face left the screen, though she could be heard muttering angrily. A moment later she reappeared, scowling deeper than ever. "Okay, listen up. I'm only going to say this once!"

The unicorn nodded firmly, listening with pricked ears.

"First off, I am Nightmare GLaDOS – Galactic Lunar and Deferent Orbital Sovereign – and _future_ ruler of Equestria. Er...you at least know what Equestria is, right?"

Twilight's face twisted in annoyance as she nodded.

"Well, at least there's that. Some time ago, Princess Celestia built this place as an extended laboratory where Friendship Magic and Science could be developed. I _suppose_ she built it for you. She enlisted me as an aide of sorts, planning and developing tests for a device that mimics the Elements of Harmony. You don't remember what those are, so the less I say about them, the better. For me."

Twilight's ears went back. She frowned at the dark pony in the monitor.

"However, she abandoned this place when she saw you were doing so well with your own research. She let this place deteriorate. Look how pathetic my beautiful facility is now! Just look!" She raged for a moment, pacing around whatever room she occupied, appearing and vanishing from the monitor. Finally, she calmed again and faced Twilight with an odd smile. "But all that's in the past. I'm currently working on fixing the facility. Celestia gave us a little visit and, well, let's just say she won't be seeing the light of day for a long time."

Thanks to that gas, Twilight didn't remember who Celestia was. Something in the back of her mind told her that pony was very important, and something like a matronly respect rose within her by the mere mention of her name. Although she didn't remember details, something about Nightmare GLaDOS's threat made her mane bristle.

"The only variable was you. I couldn't risk you and your buddies coming after me again. So I shot a light from the facility, knowing you would come and investigate. Now that you're trapped down here, nothing will stop me from flooding all of Equestria with deadly neurotoxin!"

Twilight gasped in horror. Nightmare GLaDOS froze, a sudden look of confusion on her face.

"Wait, did I say 'deadly neurotoxin'? I meant 'non-deadly neurotransmitters'. I don't know_ why_ I keep saying 'neurotoxin'. Weird. But with the neurotransmitters, I shall force every pony to bow to me, and I shall take my rightful place as ruler of all Equestria! As soon as I figure out how to get out of this facility, no pony will stand in my way!"

She cackled, escalating into a bellowing, evil laugh. Twilight rolled her eyes as the laughter continued, fading eventually into evil chuckles. Another look of confusion switched on GLaDOS's face.

"Okay, how do I turn these cameras off? Is it this-"

As the monitor switched off, Twilight gave it a stare of disbelief before turning her attention to the door panel in front of her. She took a step toward it and almost fell flat on her face. Something was wrong with her back legs, and for a moment she remembered the intense pain from before. They didn't hurt now, though. What could be wrong?

Turning, she saw that some sort of strange devices had been placed around her back legs. They looked like high boots, but there was a long curved metal piece at the end that made her flank rise up, like a high-heeled shoe. She cautiously lifted her leg up and placed it back down, noticing that her back hoof never completely touched the ground. Curious. She took a cautious step, uncomfortably aware of the way her back end waddled as she moved forward. Soon, she discovered that shifting her weight to her back legs made it a lot easier to walk.

Just as she was getting the gist of moving around, the fresh, spring-like voice of the white alicorn spoke again: "The friendship portal will open in three...two..."

There was a quiet shifting noise. On the blank panel in front of her, Twilight saw a wide oval of light appear. The center was bright white, but around the edges it was a mixture of green, blue, and purple. Another shifting noise to her right revealed another oval, this one tinged in red, orange, and yellow. The center of this one was not white, however.

Turning her attention to the first oval, confused beyond all belief, Twilight found herself staring at her own flank. She blinked and stepped back. The Twilight through the oval stepped back, too. She looked to the red, orange, and yellow oval – the 'warm' colored one – and was able to see the pod and some bits of the smaller room. Wheels started to turn in her brain, as if reclaiming some forgotten memory. She took a leap through the 'cool' oval in front of her, finding herself in the larger room, stuck in the middle of some vines but otherwise free of the confines of the glass prison.

"Took you long enough," snorted the vile voice of Nightmare GLaDOS through a loudspeaker. "I hope you don't plan on taking this much time trying to get to me. Because I _do_ have pressing engagements, you know."

Twilight simply rolled her eyes, moving quickly around the room, trotting up one of the fallen ceiling panels, and slipping through an opening in the dilapidated wall.

After narrowly dodging the collapse of a fragile, fallen wall panel, she made her way into the adjacent room. Wall panels, all smashed and cracked almost beyond repair, were stuck into the soft, mucky ground in a circle, forming a kind of arena. As Twilight stepped through them, she realized that they were decorated with elaborate paintings.

One showed two ponies, both alicorns. The light one had a sun behind her, facing away from the other with a look of sorrow on her face. This must have been Princess Celestia! Twilight immediately put the name with the friendly face she'd first viewed on the monitor. The dark one – Twilight recognized her as Nightmare GLaDOS – had a crescent moon behind her, also facing away but looking backward, as though eager to see the other's reaction.

Another painting showed several ponies of different races and colors. They stood in a line, eyes closed as if concentrating. The pony in the middle, a unicorn, had her eyes wide open. There was a small splash of white in her eyes, as though they sparkled.

Twilight blinked. The wide-eyed unicorn in the middle looked familiar. Very familiar. So did the rest of those ponies. But her addled brain could neither put a name to them nor an identity to herself.

A third painting showed Nightmare GLaDOS, tall and lean, with wild, dragon-like eyes. Something about her nasty smirk made Twilight's mane stand up all over again. The painting showed the alicorn crushing the sun under one hoof while holding a crescent moon above her head.

A fourth painting depicted a small baby dragon, gray and pink in color. Next to it was written, in smudged, scribbled hoofwriting: "Don't leave him behind."

The last painting was very faded and old. It showed a strange black-and-white object strapped to the front leg of a colorless pony. The pony held its leg up, showing a large hole at the tip of the object. A rainbow poured out of it, disappearing off the mural's edge into oblivion. Something was stenciled underneath: a black sun-like circle with the words "Equestrian Science Elemental Harmony Refraction Device."

Some tiles, cracked, worn, and edged by stubborn tufts of grass, sat on the soft, muddy earth in the middle of the arena. There was a thin wire pedestal sticking up from the middle, but it held nothing. It looked important, though. Twilight wondered what had been there.

Past the murals was another room, this one wide and empty, save for the bare skeletons of steel scaffolding, broken panels, and various trash. The floor here had more mud-sunk tiles, but as the light did not reach here as easily, there were no plants. Twilight slogged through the muck to the door on the other side of the room. She almost made it through until something caught her eye.

It was a large box, laying on its side on a small stack of broken floor tiles. Twilight could see the words "Elemental Harmony Refraction Device" in faded, waterworn letters. As she came closer, she saw the object inside and brought it out with her unicorn telekinesis. It was the black-and-white object she'd just seen in the mural.

Keeping the device afloat, she scanned the box over for any instructions. It was important, she knew, to read the directions for everything. Most of the box, however, was worn or soaked in water, fading the lettering to obscurity. The only thing she found was a list of warnings and the happy, smiling face of Princess Celestia. The smile filled her heart with warmth, though she still could not remember why this pony was important to her. She tried to shake off the feeling that she _should_ be more worried about her broken memories as she read through the list of warnings:

Equestrian Science thanks you for choosing the Elemental Harmony Refraction Device!

WARNING:

*Do not look directly into the end of the device.

*Do not immerse the device in water, even partially.

*Do NOT look directly into the end of the device.

*Do not aim at other ponies or other sentient beings.

*DO NOT look directly into the end of the device!

*Experiencing nausea while going through your first thousand portals is normal. If you feel your internal organs dissolve after contact with a portal, contact our support center.

*SERIOUSLY, DON'T LOOK INTO THE DEVICE.

*Okay, don't say we didn't warn you.

Twilight stared at the box, her mouth twisting in confusion. She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and looked again at the strange device. It was the size of her foreleg, with white shielding on the sides facing outward. At the end was a large hole covered by some sort of glass, so Twilight could easily walk while wearing the device. There were straps on the side, obviously meant to attach to a foreleg, just as the mural had described. Twilight slipped it on, sliding it up until she felt the end of the device around her hoof. She could feel – well, sense more than feel – two buttons on either side, which could be manipulated by flexing the muscles in her forearm. It barely seemed sensible, but Twilight felt it was correct. The device started up, and a small blur of a rainbow appeared at the end of the device.

Twilight was almost tempted to look into it. Almost.

She hefted the device up, pointing it at a nearby wall. Flexing her muscle, she triggered the button, and a beam of light shot out of the device with a sharp recoil that almost sent her backwards. Fighting off her initial shock, she saw a white-centered oval with blue, green, and purple around the edges. She pointed the device at another wall and fired the other button. As she expected, the red, orange, and yellow oval appeared, and she could now see across the room through both portals.

She looked at the weird gun as a smile spread across her face.

This was going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

After some experimentation, Twilight discovered that she could place the "friendship portals" only in certain spots. A clear, flat wall panel was perfect; the beveled metal panels that took up much of the ceiling only made the device shoot off multicolored sparks.

Twilight tried to get her wits together. The last few minutes had been more of a panicked escape than a methodical exploration. She was fairly confident Nightmare GLaDOS wasn't going anywhere, at least for a while. What took precedence right now was the strange device fastened to her foreleg. It was obviously designed to allow some sort of teleportation to another area, which in itself opened up a host of possibilities. By aiming the portals just so, she could gain momentum and make moderately small bounds across the room. She suspected that a higher jump would send her flinging through the air, but the degradation of the wall panels disallowed that experiment.

She planted two portals on the walls by a corner, amused by the fact that she could go around and around like a carousel by taking a single step. Her bemusement turned to intrigue as she stopped, catching a glimpse of herself in the portal's refraction.

A curious and intelligent purple unicorn stared back at her, indigo hair sadly disheveled into a ratty mess. Strings of pink wove through the indigo, and Twilight found herself desperately wanting a hairbrush. She had large, purple eyes that sparkled with cleverness and cunning, a trait that she was happy to discover. She looked familiar – well, she ought to, since she was looking at herself – but familiar on a deeper level.

Suddenly, she remembered one of the murals. The unicorn in the middle of the line of ponies, the one with the wide, shining eyes. It was her. Somepony had drawn a picture of her prior to her arrival at this strange ruin. But why? What was so important about her that it warranted artwork?

She looked at the round, open door at the opposite end of the room, popping a portal next to it and taking a shortcut across. The only way she could go was forward, so forward it was.

The door led to a small, tunnel-like ante-chamber. Another round door was in front of her. The wall panels had long ago fallen victims to mold, mildew, or plant life, revealing dark, hollow recesses behind steel grates. Haunting red lights emanated from these broken walls, illuminating the room with a hellish glow. She was about to reconsider her "only going forward" decision when the door slammed shut behind her.

Lights flickered on overhead, and a dark panel on the wall next to her suddenly lit up, labeling her current position as "Test 01." Icons below the number showed, albeit in crude monochrome, a box being dropped on a sort of platform. A burst of static thundered through an unseen speaker, making Twilight jump as the light, breezy voice of the Princess started a message:

"Welcome to the first test! Prior to receiving the portal device, we want you to test your logic and spacial abilities with a simple preliminary exercise. Please find a way out of this next room. Sorry! We can't give hints!"

'Prior to'? Twilight looked at the device strapped on her arm. Was she not supposed to have this yet? As the door slid open, she tightened her grip on the device and peeked into the next room.

There was nothing in the next room except a large red button built into the floor, and a small metal cube, decorated on each side with the black, stylized sun of Equestrian Science. A chain of orange lights trailed from the large button to a round door on the opposite wall. Above the button, set into the wall, was a large area, only partially visible due to the warped glass that blocked it off. Twilight thought she could make out chairs and desks, as though it were some type of office. However, even after a few moments of watching, Twilight concluded that nopony was up there.

That eased her mind a little. Nopony was watching her or judging her, at least not at this point. She turned her attention to the box and button in the room. The puzzle seemed too easy, really, which bothered Twilight. Why make a puzzle this easy? Were there really some ponies who couldn't figure this out?

She lifted up the cube with her magic, hovering it over the large button and releasing it. The orange line turned to blue, and the door on the other side opened. Well, half of it did. The other half started banging itself open and shut, shooting out sparks with an atrocious grating scrape. The door suddenly tipped sideways, sliding into the track on the opposite side. It shuddered, emitting sparks for a moment before quieting.

Now the door was completely blocked. Twilight tried to right it, but it was heavier than her telekinesis allowed. She peeked through the open areas, which weren't large enough for her to crawl through. Perhaps unintentionally, this was a more difficult test than she realized.

Twilight saw a clear white panel in the hallway past the door. Immediately, she shot a portal towards it, and it blossomed in green and blue and purple. She turned, shooting a warm portal of red, orange, and yellow on the wall next to her. It took her a moment to realize that her perspective had shifted and that she was looking into the next hallway. It was dark, filled with vines and large fallen plants. The adjacent wall had fallen over, making the hallway even narrower. Twilight had to crouch low in order to squeeze her body into the hallway.

At the end of the hall, a large round chamber awaited her, and an elevator dropped from a tube in the center of the room. Twilight noticed, among the debris in the round chamber, there was a white-paneled wall that lay at an angle, propped up by other debris. There were a few of the wall panels, actually, but this one in particular caught Twilight's eye. Painted in the middle was a red 'x', circled as if in a cross-hair. She stared at it curiously before a hiss from the speaker made her jump.

"Congratulations on passing the first test!" piped the spring-breeze voice cheerily. It continued, but in a glitchy manner, with static and stutters as the lights flickered wildly. "In the next chamber, you will assume command of the por-por-port-t-t-t-t-t-"

*KKKKKKSHT*

*FSHHHTTZZZZ*

Fountains of sparks flew from the lift, and it suddenly dropped down the shaft as if cut from above. Twilight was glad she hadn't immediately boarded it. A resounding crash came within moments, and dust flew up from the shaft.

"You were supposed to be on that," Nightmare GLaDOS's cold voice hissed quietly from the speaker. There was a pause. "Well, thank goodness you weren't. Then I wouldn't have anything to look forward to. Here's another elevator. I promise I won't drop it this time."

Twilight rolled her eyes. As if she would trust that. She looked down the shaft, watching as the crushed elevator was pushed by mobile wall panels out of the way. As it was cleared, it revealed a white, painted surface. Something clicked in Twilight's brain. Before the next elevator arrived, Twilight shot a cool portal down and stepped back. She cautiously got on the lift when it stopped, shooting a warm portal on the red 'x' of the fallen wall panel before stepping inside. As the doors began to close, she leaped out again, rolling off to the side of the room and ducking against the wall.

There was a loud snap as the elevator dropped. It appeared an instant later, flying up through the warm portal, smashing into the top of the elevator shaft, and blasting through the back wall before flying over the edge into oblivion. Twilight waited a while, listening to the crackle of live wires and the empty hollowness of the wind before feeling secure enough to emerge.

She looked out through the hole in the wall, scouring the area for any place to put a portal. She finally found one far above her on a ceiling overlooking a room. She fired. The portal connected.

Twilight was aware how risky a jump like this could be. She could go through, just to drop into a bottomless pit. She could be completely trapped in a metal room. Still, with the elevator now out of commission, she had no choice but to press on in any way she could.

She shot a portal on a flat piece of wall in order to see correctly. Fortunately, the other portal seemed to lead to another testing ante-chamber. Deciding it was safe enough, Twilight climbed through the portal. Gravity took effect in a moment, and she fell, the strange boots preventing the shock of impact on her hind legs.

As soon as Twilight landed on the ground, a dark panel on the wall lit up. This was 'Test 18', it announced, and a variety of different icons lit up under the number. Many of them showed concepts completely foreign to Twilight, like a pony falling into some sort of liquid. Another showed a pegasus, its wings outspread. Lines shot out from under its wings, as though wind was moving under them.

"Well done on making it this far! If you just remember everything you've done in the last sixteen sessions, you should have no problem at all with this test." chirped the friendly voice from nearby. Twilight was hit with a pang of guilt; she kind of cheated to get up here. Well, that first test seemed fairly easy, so how hard could sixteen more of them be?

" As always, remember that any perception of danger in these tests is merely an illusion designed to stimulate you. All Equestrian Science Enhancement Center tests are completely safe, so please...huh? What?"

Twilight heard a murmuring from the background of the recording. It was a smooth, familiar voice.

Celestia continued. "Real? No, that's not what I wanted. These are just puzzles. We don't want to kill anyone, do we?"

"We should test in realistic situations," came the cold voice, muffled in the background. It grew closer as the message continued.

"No, let's reconfigure the puzzle. Let me turn off the recorder."

"That's really not necessary. I doubt anypony would make it as far as this level, anyway."

Celestia suddenly sounded concerned. "What? Why would you say that? You didn't change my puzzles, did you?"

A pause, then the dark voice of Nightmare GLaDOS: "I merely meant that many test subjects would have given up by now. That's all. Why would I change your tests? Leave the message for now. Let's go work on that last test."

The message ended with a click, and the door on the end of the ante-chamber whooshed open. Twilight stared at the speaker for a moment, concerned about that message. It was pre-recorded – she knew that already – but something about the dialogue worried her. What had happened to Princess Celestia?

Naturally, she had no choice but to press on, and as she entered the test chamber she discovered that it was less of a room and more of an arena. She entered on an upraised platform. Portal-sticking walls, most of them too corroded to hold a portal, sat at ground level around her. In the middle of the small platform was an oval-shaped metal device with a teal blinking light. Twilight wasn't sure what it did. On her left was a large hole surrounded by black metal. It looked more like a receptor for something instead of a button or trigger.

Past the edge of the platform was a large pit, from which Twilight could hear the sloshing of liquid. Looking down, she saw that the water was a nasty, swampy-looking concoction which smelled of acrid vomit. Twilight was sure she didn't want to end up in it. Across the pit was another small platform, holding portal walls as well. At the edge by the pit was a pole about Twilight's height with a small red button on top. At the back of the chamber was a black receptor hole, similar to the one on the wall to her left.

Looking up, Twilight noticed a large, funnel-like object. It seemed as though something was supposed to come out of its tip. Above the pit was a large tube. Twilight could see a cube stuck in it. A row of orange lights led from that tube to the button-on-a-pole on the opposite side. From the button, a different row of orange lights led to the large receptor hole in the back wall.

To her right, Twilight saw more of the room. A grated walkway stretched out across a broad corridor. On the opposite side of the corridor, adjacent to the walkway, seemed to be another, sturdier walkway. To her great surprise, she saw a row of white pegasus ponies – mares and stallions both – standing stoically. They wore armor and helms that forced their blue manes into mo-hawks. These helms also covered their left eyes, and from their right eyes shot red lasers of light. They seemed to take no notice of her.

To the right of the pegasi, partitioned by a panel of glass that didn't quite reach all the way to the edge, sat a small cube very unlike the one Twilight had seen before. It was metal, but it had round glass panels on each of its sides, like a magnifying glass had been cubed. The side that faced forward had two embossed circles, like a target.

Twilight looked past the walkway, seeing a third platform. A sheaf of blue light spanned the top of the wall, connecting to the other side on a portal-sticking wall. All the other walls, Twilight noticed, were metal. Below this light, Twilight saw another button-on-a-pole, which had a path of orange squares all the way back to the funnel-thing above her. On the floor behind this button was a large, red button, the kind she had used on the first test. An orange trail led from this button to the sealed round door on the opposite side of that platform.

Twilight was starting to feel a little overwhelmed. This was _not_ like the first puzzle at all. She immediately wished she could have gone through all the levels; then maybe she'd know what most of this stuff did. What she was most curious about was the strange-looking panel on the floor in front of her. She approached it, accidentally triggering it with her front hoof.

The panel shot up underneath her, launching her through the air and giving her a nasty slap on the flank in the process. She slammed rather ungracefully against the wall of the opposite platform, sinking to the floor with a groan.

That thing sends things flying. Good to know.

She picked herself up off the floor, shaking the lights out of her eyes. The hole in the back of the room didn't seem to do anything, except be a hole. She expected the hole on the first platform to be the same. She turned and tried the button on the pole. It depressed with a click, but nothing happened.

Her ears went back as she scowled. She shot a cool portal to the opposite side and the warm one on the side she was on, going back to the first platform where she started. Maybe the pegasi in the hallway could help her. She started across the rusty grated corridor.

"Halt, intruder!" cried one of the pegasi. Its laser eye swooped over, casting upon Twilight's face. The two pegasi next to him also swung their lights over.

"Stay where you are!"

"Stop right there!"

Twilight froze. Was she in trouble? The three pegasi raised their wings, revealing a strange box strapped to their sides. At once, there was a horrible, explosive, clattering noise, and Twilight felt little objects fly by her. They hit the metal walls and the bridge with sharp pings and sparks. Surprised, she jumped backwards, out of their line of sight. The lasers swung wildly though the air.

"Where have you gone?"

"Come out!"

"Surrender, now!"

Twilight bit her lip. Did they just shoot at her? She took a closer look at them, edging to the end of the platform, careful they didn't see her. The three had already folded up their wings and stared forward, waiting for her to cross their line of sight again. Twilight saw small lines around their bodies, as though they were constructed and put together instead of flesh and blood. Their hooves were shiny and black as night, fetlocks stained with brown and red, as though they had walked through a battlefield. With a turn of their head, they could easily spot her, yet they waited.

She stamped in frustration. What was she supposed to do now? None of these buttons seemed to work! There were only a few places where she could place portals – the wall around her, the platform across from her, and the panels in the partitioned area next to the pegasus guards. She couldn't get across the metal grate or they'd start shooting at her again, so it was almost impossible to guess how she'd get at the other buttons. The adjacent room was completely metal, except that little panel meeting the blue wall of light...

Something in her mind clicked. Aiming carefully, she shot a warm portal at that small panel. Instantly, a tall beam of light stretched out behind her, extending from the cool portal she'd shot earlier. She ran to the wall to investigate the portal, but the beam of light took up too much room to allow her through. There must be some other way across.

She looked again at the line of pegasi, noting the placement of white walls. She shot a cool portal on the farthest panel of the wall where the cube was partitioned. At first, the blue beam only covered the cube, and Twilight realized there was a reason the glass partition didn't stretch all the way to the edge of the guardsponies' platform. She adjusted the portal, shooting as close to the edge of the wall as possible. The blue beam stretched out, shielding the pegasi behind it. Their lasers were no longer in sight.

Twilight cautiously stepped out on the walkway, ready to jump back at a moment's notice if they started firing again. She continued, passing the first guard with no obstacle. They didn't seem to see her now, as if completely blinded by the transparent blue wall. Feeling jubilantly brilliant, she made her way to the third platform.

First, she tried the button-on-a-pole. On the first platform, a red stream of light shot from the funnel down to the ground, but the walkway also sank down into the murky and foul-smelling water below. The loud ticking of a timer echoed through the room, and Twilight instinctively counted off ten seconds. After that, the laser stopped and the walkway moved back up, resetting everything . It wasn't much, but it was progress.

She then tried the button on the floor. It did nothing. She noticed an orange line tying it to the black hole on the first platform.

Twilight sat down. This would take some thinking. She traced the orange lines in the room, both with her eyes and mentally. The only thing that worked was the laser. Obviously, it needed to go somewhere. Perhaps in the holes? But which one? And how was she going to redirect that laser?

Her eyes widened. Of course. That box! Like a mirror redirecting a sunbeam, the glass lenses of the cube could redirect the laser! She galloped across the walkway again, shooting her warm portal on the far wall of the first platform. The blue light wall disappeared, and the lasers from the guards strung across the corridor again. She looked through her portal. From there she could see the partition of glass, the stone-still profiles of the pegasi, and a corner of the strange cube. She trotted through.

"Stop, intruder!" cried the pegasus mare closest to her. The guard's wings lifted, shooting wildly. Twilight, however, jumped behind the glass partition and prayed it was enough to stop the pellets. She quickly grabbed the cube with her magic and leaped back through the portal. She shot the warm portal again at the edge of the blue light wall, and the pegasi were once again blocked off.

Now back at her original platform, Twilight positioned the cube so that the target-side was facing the black hole on her left. She would try the hole on the second platform later. She ran across the walkway and pressed the button-on-a-pole. Sure enough, the laser reflected through the cube and lit up the black hole. One of the orange lines turned blue, and the ticking timer started.

Twilight traced the blue lights to the large floor button behind her. She stood on it, and the door out of the area opened. As soon as she set hoof off of the button, however, the door slid shut. Ten seconds passed, and the laser died away, giving the floor button no power at all.

She galloped back across, positioning the cube toward the black hole on the second platform. Crossing again, she hit the button to activate the laser. She couldn't see the light hit, but the orange trail from that hole to the other button-on-a-pole turned blue. Ten seconds passed, and even after the walkway came back up and the laser died, the line to the button remained blue.

Now what? She ran back to the original platform, tracing the orange path from the button to the tube on the ceiling holding the cube. She looked down at the metal contraption on the floor that had sent her flying. No, they couldn't possibly want her to...

She chewed her lip for a moment, then straightened up and stepped on the metal launcher. In an instant she was airborne, but this time she had enough forethought to stop herself before she slammed into the wall. A cool portal on this side; a warm portal on the other. She pressed the button, hearing five ticks before the tube opened.

That wasn't enough time! The cube dropped into the fetid water with a splash, and Twilight watched in horror as the metal cube burned away in the acid. She reminded herself again that she did _not_ want to touch that water.

She repositioned her portals to have a clear run. It was a tricky move, and she didn't have a lot of time to do it. Pressing the button again, she didn't wait for the ticking to start before running back to the original platform. She watched the tube carefully.

Just as the slot began to open, she stepped on the launcher. She almost hit the cube head-on, which certainly would have dropped both of them in the drink. Shocked, she forgot to catch the cube and landed on her flank on the other side. The cube again dropped in the water.

The next attempt was focused, clear. She launched through the air. She caught the cube with her magic. She...lost focus and slammed into the cube, which in turn slammed into the wall. Winded, she fell on her back and panted for a moment. It was certainly harder than it seemed. She hoped whoever made these silly tests was very pleased with themselves.

Quickly, she carried the cube through her portals and across the walkway, setting the cube on the large floor button. Of course, that did nothing. She ran back across, repositioning the laser-cube on the other black hole. She ran back, pressed the button-on-a-pole. The laser shot out, redirected to the hole, and powered the floor button. The round exit door to her right opened.

She gave a smug, casual wave of her hoof to the stoic guards, smirking at her own brilliance as she strolled through the exit. Unfortunately, her cockiness got the better of her, and ten seconds passed before she made it to the door, which slammed in her face. Rolling her eyes, an embarrassing reminder of her own arrogance, she pressed the button again. This time, she sped through the open door.

To her surprise, she had not arrived at the exit. Instead, she found a staircase leading upward. The small path was very dimly lit, and the stairs were old and rusty. She watched her footing carefully, feeling some of the stairs almost give way under her. At the top of the stairs was a small grated platform. One wall panel behind her was suitable for a portal; at the floor was another launcher. Beside it was a button-on-a-pole. Beyond that was a dark, unlit corridor, though Twilight could easily see the silhouette of a tube far in the distance where a cube could drop.

Fling-and-catch again. Simple enough. Just in case, Twilight put a warm portal on the panel behind her. Always be prepared! In this crazy place, there was no telling what could happen. Looking past the platform, Twilight could see the acid below. At the very end of the corridor, Twilight saw a round door with a bright "EXIT" sign above. She sighed in relief. Simple enough, if her only obstacle was the acid.

She decided it would be a good idea to test the button first. A timer ticked three seconds before releasing the cube, which, Twilight calculated, would give her just enough time if she launched herself just after the button push.

She pushed the button. Launched herself. Traveled four feet.

*POOM!*

Panic gripped her as some loud thing smashed just behind her back. Did the wall just -

*POOM*

Another four feet. Another swift breeze. Another thunderous pound. The cube! She had to -

*POOM*

The last four feet. She missed the cube entirely, landing head over hooves by the exit door. She scrambled to her hooves as the floor began to rumble. Down the corridor, she saw large plates attached to pistons retract themselves from the wall. Large plates. With spikes. Sharp, dangerous spikes. The rumbling around her intensified, and she realized it was not the spike plates that were making the noise.

To her left was an open area, lower than the platform she stood on and flooded with acid. In the far corner on a very small platform above the acid was a floor button, an orange trail leading from it and snaking all the way to the exit door. However, it was not the button that caught Twilight's attention but large streams of light seeping from cracks in the far wall. With a heart-stopping tremor and a protesting shriek of metal, the wall wrenched away, revealing a large expanse of foggy nothingness. The acid on the ground spilled out as half of the floor was also torn away. The large section of the chamber fell, and Twilight watched as it descended into a nearly-bottomless darkness.

Her knees failed her, and she collapsed in fear. The trembling in the room had stopped, but it was hard to explain that to Twilight's thundering heart. After a few minutes with no more tremors, she shakily got up again. Looking down over the edge of the exit platform, Twilight saw that much but not all of the acid had drained out. A good lot of it still awaited her arrival into a painful, melty death. Next to the exit platform, far below, she saw a floor panel where a portal could be placed. This would be her way back to the launcher and the evil spike plates. At first, she thought about jumping down, throwing a portal as she fell, and getting back up to the launcher platform that way, but her earlier experiments with trajectory told her the possibility of her ending up in the acid was incredibly high. Instead, she jumped down, the impact of her fall thankfully softened by her strange boots. She placed a portal on the floor and carefully crawled through to the launcher-and-button platform.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She could expect the crashing panels this time. No problem. All she had to do was catch the cube. She smacked the button and hopped on the launcher, launching triumphantly in the air. The first plate crashed. She didn't flinch. The second plate thundered. No problem. She looked up to meet the cube and...didn't see the cube falling.

Realizing she'd launched too early, Twilight quickly twisted her body around just in time to catch the cube as she almost flew past it. She watched the third spike plate smash viciously into the wall, and her heart almost failed her. She was _that_ close to it the whole time?

Her back hit the wall. The cube, still gaining momentum, collided into her shortly afterward. These cubes were really starting to lose their charm.

After again catching her breath, she spotted a portal-sticking surface on the ceiling above the floor button. She shot a warm portal on it, remembering the cool portal that was still on the platform below. It was pretty clear, now, what she had to do: drop the cube onto the button. However, the explosion that had blasted out the wall had left a huge opening next to the button. The wrong angle could send the button flying off into oblivion, which also mean that she would have to fly past the spike plates again to get another cube. Twilight held the cube over the edge, aiming as carefully as she could with the big cube blocking her line of sight. She let go. The cube flew swiftly through the portal and landed on the button with a very loud and very satisfying bang.

The exit opened. Twilight dashed through without a second thought.

She found another round room with an elevator in the middle. Unlike the elevator on the first test chamber, this one was not overgrown with plant life. The room was illuminated by dim artificial lights which flickered, as if on their last glow. Almost all of the wall panels were broken but barren of mold, and behind them Twilight could see rusted mesh screens with glowing red lights. The room felt unusually constricted and tight, and Twilight gulped back a nervous choke.

It occurred to her as the lift appeared from above that the cold, venomous voice had not spoken to her on this level. She wondered if the elevator was safe. This time there was no place to put a portal if the lift was trapped. After a few moments of contemplation and waiting, Twilight figured she had nothing to lose and stepped in. The glass doors shut, and the lift moved upwards.

The elevator stopped at another round room and opened its doors for the young unicorn. She quickly stepped out, leaving this room for another metal-walled ante-chamber. The door shut behind her, momentarily sealing her in. The dark panel on the wall flickered, but only half of it lit up. It had been cracked from a low level, as if somepony had come along and bucked it ferociously. The top only said "Test" before ending in a cracked blackness. The icons on the bottom were completely blacked out, save the last one on the list: a picture of a slice of cake.

From overhead came a static twang, and Celestia's voice spoke again, this time with a horrible, trembling fear:

"I don't want to read this. This isn't right. This isn't the way I wanted the tests to end."

The dark, smooth tones of GLaDOS butted in, no longer in the background. "What's the matter? I thought you liked science. Don't tell me your dedication is wavering."

"Science is about discovery. This...this is cruel." She gave a choked sob. "This is murder!"

"Science is about sacrifice," the cold voice burst, suddenly dancing with sadistic pleasure. Twilight could almost picture the wicked, psychotic grin on her face. Her voice took on a menacing, dark tone. "If you're not going to take the risk, if you're not willing to put in the effort, then perhaps it's time you retired!"

"No!" cried the gentle voice. There was a muffled sound of blows landing. Twilight heard the Princess's soft grunts of pain, followed by a yelp of surprise. Finally, a scream: "No! NO! NOOO!"

There was a flurry of electronic whirring and buzzing, and then all was silent. A soft click marked the end of the message.

Twilight realized she had backed into the corner of the ante-chamber. She trembled in fear, and the tips of her unusual boots chattered against the steel wall. She breathed raggedly, angered, disturbed, and frightened by the message.

"Ah, here you are," the speaker hissed in a familiar, cold voice. "It took me quite a while to find you. Oh, did you hear that little message I left? My dear superior's retirement speech. Such a lovely speaker, too. By the way, there isn't any other way out of this room. You'll have to go through the test. I think you'll just love my surprise at the end."

Uncontrollable rage spiked down Twilight's back. She dashed to the round door into the test chamber, which had still refused to open, and spun around at the last moment to buck it. She had quite forgotten her boots, and her thunderous buck was reduced to a gentle tap. In desperation, she fired the portal device all around the room. Multicolored platitudes of sparks flew everywhere until the air was filled with hazy smoke. Twilight was frustrated – frustrated with being stuck here with no clue where she was, frustrated that she had no way to reach that monstrous black alicorn, frustrated that she could do nothing to save the gentle voice that had already been lost.

Her rage spent, she lowered the gun, panting heavily as the chromatic streaks of embers died out. There was a crackle from the speaker.

"My, what a nice little fit you've just thrown. Just like a filly. Now, off you go. There's a good girl. Don't forget to enjoy my surprise."

The door hissed open. As Twilight stepped inside, the slam behind her told her there was no turning back. It was a simple room, none of the chaos from the last test. Merely another cube-and-button, like the first test Twilight had encountered, with the exception of a currently inactive platform on rails to her immediate left. This one really did seem too simple. Suspiciously so.

_Her_ sadistic, cruel voice came from the speaker on the opposite wall.

"Welcome to the final test."


End file.
